Our Team

Fred McMahon is a Fraser Institute Resident Fellow and holder of the Dr. Michael A. Walker Chair in Economic Freedom. He has an M.A. in Economics from McGill University. Mr. McMahon manages the Economic Freedom of the World Project and coordinates the Economic Freedom Network, an international alliance of over 100 think tank partners in about 100 nations and territories. His research focuses on global issues such as development, trade, governance and economic structure. Mr. McMahon is the author of numerous research articles and several books including, Looking the Gift Horse in the Mouth: The Impact of Federal Transfers on Atlantic Canada, which won the Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award for advancing public policy debate, Road to Growth: How Lagging Economies Become Prosperous, and Retreat from Growth: Atlantic Canada and the Negative Sum Economy.

He has written for numerous publications including the European Journal of Political Economy, the SAIS Journal (School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University), the Wall Street Journal, Policy Options, National Post, Time (Canada), Globe and Mail, Ottawa Citizen, and most other major Canadian newspapers. Research articles he has recently authored or co-authored include: Economic Freedom of North America, Quebec Prosperity: Taking the Next Step, The Unseen Wall: The Fraser Institute's Annual Trade Survey, and Economic Freedom of the Arab World.

James Gwartney

- Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute

James D. Gwartney holds the Gus A. Stavros Eminent Scholar Chair at Florida State University, where he directs the Stavros Center for the Advancement of Free Enterprise and Economic Education. His Ph.D. in economics is from the University of Washington. He is the coauthor of Economics: Private and Public Choice(Cengage/South-Western Press, 2015) , a widely used text on the principles of economics that is now in its 15th edition. He is also coauthor of an economics primer, Common Sense Economics: What Everyone Should Know About Wealth and Prosperity (St.Martin's Press, 2010). His publications have appeared in both professional journals and popular media such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. He served as Chief Economist of the Joint Committee of the US Congress from 1999 to 2000. In 2004, he was the recipient of the Adam Smith Award of the Association of Private Enterprise Education for his contribution to the advancement of free-market ideals. He is a past president of the Southern Economic Association and the Association for Private Enterprise Education.

Robert A. Lawson

- Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute

Robert A. Lawson is Professor of Economics and holds the Jerome M. Fullinwider Endowed Centennial Chair in Economic Freedom in the O’Neil Center for Global Markets and Freedom in the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. He earned his B.S. in economics from the Honors Tutorial College at Ohio University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in economics from Florida State University. A Senior Fellow at the Fraser Institute, he has numerous professional publications in journals such as Public Choice, Cato Journal, Journal of Labor Research, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, and the European Journal of Political Economy. Prof. Lawson has served as President of the Association of Private Enterprise Education and is a member of the Mont Pelerin Society.

Joshua C. Hall

- Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute

Joshua C. Hall is an Associate Professor of Economics and Co-director of the Center for Free Enterprise in the College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University. He earned his B.B.A. and M.A. in economics from Ohio University and his Ph.D. from West Virginia University. Prior to returning to his alma mater, he was the Elbert H. Neese, Jr. Professor of Economics at Beloit College. He is currently serving as Part President of the Association of Private Enterprise Education and is also a Senior Fellow at the Fraser Institute. He is the author of over 70 articles in journals such as Contemporary Economic Policy, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Labor Research, Southern Economic Journal, Public Finance Review, and Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory.

Rosemarie Fike

- Instructor of Economics, Texas Christian University

Rosemarie Fike is an Instructor of Economics at Texas Christian University and a Senior Fellow of the Fraser Institute. She received her M.A. in Economics at George Mason University, and her Ph.D. in Economics at Florida State University. She is an alumna of the Mercatus Center’s MA Fellowship and Adam Smith Fellowship programs. Her current research focuses on understanding the effects that different types of economic institutions have on the lives and status of women. Indeed, Ms. Fike is the principal author of the Institute’s work on women, progress, and economic freedom (available at http://womenandprogress.org). In 2017, she received the Addington Prize for Measurement. Her work has been published in the Eastern Economics Journal, Journal of Economic Education, and Journal of Benefit/Cost Analysis. She has published opinion editorials in news outlets such as US News and World Report, The Hill, and Roll Call.

Our Team

Fred McMahon is a Fraser Institute Resident Fellow and holder of the Dr. Michael A. Walker Chair in Economic Freedom. He has an M.A. in Economics from McGill University. Mr. McMahon manages the Economic Freedom of the World Project and coordinates the Economic Freedom Network, an international alliance of over 100 think tank partners in about 100 nations and territories. His research focuses on global issues such as development, trade, governance and economic structure. Mr. McMahon is the author of numerous research articles and several books including, Looking the Gift Horse in the Mouth: The Impact of Federal Transfers on Atlantic Canada, which won the Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award for advancing public policy debate, Road to Growth: How Lagging Economies Become Prosperous, and Retreat from Growth: Atlantic Canada and the Negative Sum Economy.

He has written for numerous publications including the European Journal of Political Economy, the SAIS Journal (School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University), the Wall Street Journal, Policy Options, National Post, Time (Canada), Globe and Mail, Ottawa Citizen, and most other major Canadian newspapers. Research articles he has recently authored or co-authored include: Economic Freedom of North America, Quebec Prosperity: Taking the Next Step, The Unseen Wall: The Fraser Institute's Annual Trade Survey, and Economic Freedom of the Arab World.

Dean Stansel

- Research Associate Professor, O'Neil Center for Global Markets

Dean Stansel is a Research Associate Professor at the O’Neil Center for Global Markets and Freedom in the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. He earned his B.A. in economics (with honors) and politics from Wake Forest University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University. Before entering academia, Prof. Stansel worked for seven years at the Cato Institute, a public-policy research organization in Washington, D.C., where he produced over 60 publications on fiscal policy issues. In addition to his work on Economic Freedom of North America, he is sole author of an index of economic freedom for US metropolitan areas, as well as the author of numerous academic journal articles on a variety of issues in public finance and urban economics. Prof. Stansel’s research has been discussed in many publications including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution; and his commentaries have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Investor’s Business Daily, and Chicago Tribune, among others. He was selected in 2011 by the Economic Freedom Project to help publicize the findings of the various economic freedom reports, and the virtues of economic freedom in general, through a variety of media interviews (about 75 a year).

José Torra

- Head of Research, Caminos de la Libertad

RJosé Torra is the head of research at Caminos de la Libertad, a member of the Economic Freedom Network; its mission is to promote discussion about, and reflection upon, the different aspects of freedom. He holds a degree in economics from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City. He is also the author of the book, Jonestown: Religión y Socialismo, published by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.

Alan W. Dowd

- Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute

Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow and Senior Editor with the Fraser Institute. Mr. Dowd has contributed to Fraser Institute publications such as Economic Freedom of North America (EFNA), Cybersecurity Challenges for Canada and the United States, and Fraser Forum; he also serves as editor of Fraser Insight (the Institute’s US newsletter). Mr. Dowd helped launch the EFNA Network in 2014, and he continues to serve as managing director of the EFNA Network, which today enfolds 45 member-organizations in 36 US states, Canada and Mexico. Mr. Dowd is a frequent contributor to Military Officer, The American, Landing Zone, American Legion, and American Outlook. In addition, his writing has appeared in the Claremont Review of Books, Policy Review, Parameters, Journal of Diplomacy & International Relations, Diplomat & International Canada, World Politics Review, World & I, National Post, Baltimore Sun, Washington Times, Washington Examiner, Sacramento Bee, Indianapolis Star, Detroit News, Vancouver Sun, Wall Street Journal Europe, Jerusalem Post, Financial Times Deutschland, and the online editions of American Interest, National Review, and Weekly Standard. Mr. Dowd has served as an adjunct professor at Butler University and Anderson University; was a founding member of the Sagamore Institute leadership team, where he continues to hold a senior-fellow post; and was director of Hudson Institute’s corporate headquarters. He earned a B.A. from Butler University and an M.A. from Indiana University.